I provide commentary on political economy, police and prosecutorial abuse, and whatever else might come to mind.
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 (ESV)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

More Lies from the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit

More than a month after a Catoosa County jury acquitted Tonya Craft of all charges of child sexual assault and child molestation, I received an email from someone with inside ties to the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department. The emailer told me that the people inside the department were claiming that “Tonya did it,” and simply got away with gaming the system.

Since the entire trial was rigged, thanks to “judge” Brian Outhouse and his tag team of Chris “Alberto” “Facebook” Arnt and Len “The Man” Gregor, the notion that Tonya “beat the system” is a joke, and a sick joke at that. However, believe it or not, the sheriff and his minions now are trying to claim that “judge” Outhouse himself was to blame?

Why? They are telling people that “judge” Outhouse refused to admit “evidence” coming from a male child of Angela Carroll that surely would have convinced the jurors that Tonya Craft was a child molester. This post will demolish that notion and expose the sheriff’s department’s lying.

Now, given what we saw, the notion that “judge” Outhouse would refuse to admit ANYTHING that would have worked against Tonya is a sick joke. This is a “judge” who admitted the following (and more):

“I just remembered” testimony from Joal Henke that stunk of perjury from the beginning, and had not been entered in any of the documentation presented at Discovery;

“I just remembered but did not document it” testimony from Suzi Thorne that had not been entered in any of the documentation presented at Discovery;

The admission of deus ex machina documents from the prosecution and police, such as the “hand rape” allegations that were not shown in discovery. On at least two occasions, “judge” Outhouse permitted the prosecution to enter these documents as though they had been there all along.

Furthermore, the “judge” also denied requests by the defense to admit much of the planned testimony of Dr. Ann Hazzard (who interviewed the Henke children), and proof that Sandra Lamb lied on the stand when she claimed that her daughter had not received acting lessons. Here was a “judge” who upheld almost all of the prosecution’s objections and overruled almost all of the defense objections.

This was a “judge” who permitted (in fact, encouraged) prosecutors to lie, to engage in abusive cross-examination of defense witnesses, to mimic the defense, roll their eyes, make catcalls and other loud noises, throw down books, and generally do everything they could to disrupt the defense attorneys. In fact, jurors noted after the trial that they believed “judge” Outhouse was clearly biased against Tonya and her attorneys, and a live feed caught Outhouse denigrating the defense during a conversation in the courtroom with a bailiff.

Thus, for anyone to claim that “judge” Outhouse would have withheld any damning evidence against Ms. Craft is ludicrous. Indeed, the decision to keep out the Carroll allegations came from the prosecutors, who knew that the defense would have shredded the accusations to pieces and further damaged the prosecution’s case.

For that matter, the prosecution still brought up allegations during the trial that Ms. Craft had been sending pictures of herself scantily dressed to a young child, an allegation of which they had no proof. (Gee, the alleged pictures sent via cellphone to the child might have proven to be great evidence, but, alas, "Alberto-Facebook” and “The Man” had nothing, but still continued to make their phantom allegations.)

After the allegations against Tonya became public, Carroll found that her son (who had been in Ms. Craft’s kindergarten class) had taken pictures of his private areas with her cell phone camera. Not surprisingly, she was upset and she then asked her son if Tonya was responsible. The complaint that the defense wrote to U.S. Attorney Sally Yates included the following “investigative summary” from the police:

On 061308 Detective (Steven) Keith received a phone call from Angela Carroll who stated her son, (withheld), was in Ms. Henke’s kindergarten class. Mrs. Carroll stated that she had found pictures of (son’s) privates on her cell phone and when she asked (son) why he took pictures he stated he did not know and stated he and Ms. Henke would always play a game at school where he was the baby. Ms. Carroll wanted (son) to be interviewed.

Detective Tim Deal conducted the interview with (son) at the Greenhouse in Dalton, Georgia.

After the first interview with (son), Detective Keith received a phone call from Angela Carroll. Mrs. Carroll stated that when they arrived home from the interview (son) began crying and he told her that he was afraid to tell the truth during the interview. (Son) told his mother that Tonya told him if he told anyone his mother would go to jail. Jacob told his mother he didn’t tell because he did not want her to go to jail.

Detective Keith advised Detective Deal of the information. This case will be turned over to Detective Deal for further investigation.

I don’t have any of the interview transcripts available, but I do know some things about the child in question. He is classified as having “special needs” and I have no doubt that any testimony he would have given from the stand would have fallen apart, even before he would have faced cross-examination from Dr. Demosthenes Lorandos.

My sense also is that the boy’s mother, Ms. Carroll, point-blank asked him if Tonya was “responsible” for this, and I am sure that he agreed. After all, rumors were swirling and a child taking pictures of his privates is understood not to be acceptable behavior. Given the atmosphere at the time, I don’t even blame Ms. Carroll for asking the “Tonya question.”

However, I do become quite suspicious whenever a parent tells police that after the child came home following the interview, he or she has “more to tell.” Such a “disclosure” almost always has the parent’s fingerprints all over it.

There is another important point to make, and that involves the patterns we see in real-live child molesters: they choose either boys or girls. It is very rare that a child molester will molest both boys and girls. In a word, this witness lacked credibility, and the prosecutors knew that his accusations would not fly in court, and if the defense could shred this testimony, then all the prosecution's testimony would be vulnerable.

Unfortunately, now that Tonya has been acquitted, the players of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit continue to spread the rumor that Tonya had done “something terrible” that should have been permitted to be entered into evidence, something that would have been a “game changer.” This is nonsense, yet another Big Lie told by the Big Liars that populate the courts and “law enforcement” institutions of Northwest Georgia.

Almost from the very beginning, these people knew that Tonya did NOT “do it.” This was not a case of overzealousness by police and prosecutors; it was a frame. It was a crime. The ultimate irony here is that the people of the LMJC who are sworn to uphold and enforce the law are the ones who openly spit on the law.

49 comments:

Sheriff Summers appeared on UCTV very soon after the not guilty verdicts spreading these lies of his. He alluded to "other victims" that existed (although he didn't mention specific names) and insinuated that the whole truth did not come out during the trial, and if it had, then there would have been a much different outcome. He's not only spreading this crap within the Catoosa County Sheriff's Dept., but he's trying desperately to convince the public. This man KNOWS he's in trouble; he serves in an elected position and surely the fact does not escape him that his constituents are angry--VERY angry with the way he has performed his duties.

Also, I would like to point out that there are quite of few within his department that strongly disagree with what he is doing, yet because Summers is their boss, they feel like if they spoke out, there would be serious retribution. I can tell you, Bill, that there are some of his underlings that hope and pray that there is some sort of investigation in the works within the dept. because they are sick and tired of seeing these types of things going on.

Oh, and as far as Detective Tim Deal- many in the CCSO think he's an idiot. He has lost respect from many of his colleagues and is regarded by some of his fellow co-workers as nothing more than a wannabe.

You won't hear many of these members in LE speaking out publicly but I guarantee that there are some within the Catoosa Cty Sheriff's Dept. that want justice, too, and are actually siding with Tonya Craft in this whole fiasco.

Like the lack of response from the Attorney General's office during the Craft trial and the AG's representation of Suzie Thorne, I believe this is nothing more than a play to get TC's civil suit thrown out before depositions or it sees the first court date. A bit more investigation into the AG's responsibilities may have revealed a conflict of interest on Thurbert Baker's part. Now, I don't have access to the appeal papers for Brad Wade, but the AG represents the state in all appeals. It goes to follow, since Mr. Wade's name has been associated with this trial and Baker is representing little Ms. Suzie, the AG showed up to vigorously defend the state's position against Mr. Wade. As I said before, this whole thing stinks. Baker fought to keep a young man in prison longer than the State Supreme Court said he should be. Now, it appears Mr. Baker is fighting even harder to not only send people to prison for crimes which they did not commit but will do whatever it takes to keep them there. The only comfort I take from this situation is that Mr. Baker overreached his political capabilities and is now in a losing race for governor - and must give up his position as AG, since that position runs during the same year as the governor's. We can only hope our new AG stops this travesty.

Did the child take pictures with the Mom's cell phone? And because he was in Tonya's class that somehow implicated her??? Fits right in with the rest of the "compelling" evidence the DA's office had. Sheesh...I sure hope that some how, some way, the lid is blown off this bunch of lies and corruption eventually.

"For that matter, the prosecution still brought up allegations during the trial that Ms. Craft had been sending pictures of herself scantily dressed to a young child, an allegation of which they had no proof."

(I don' know how to make the quotation appear in italic.)

Regarding this allegation, Tonya testified for herself in court that the picture(s) were sent to the boy's mother, and that it was the mother who sent the picture(s) to her son and asked what he thought.

I had the impression that the son was a teenager and had his own cellphone to which the mother sent the picture(s) of Tonya, but I could be wrong. If the boy was so young, maybe, he didn't have his own cellphone, and, maybe, the mother showed the picture(s) off of her phone.....

But, if the boy had his own phone, the phone record would clear that Tonya didn't sent any such picture(s) to the boy.

This explains a lot. On hearing that there was a fourth "victim" I was puzzled about why the evidence was never introduced. Had it been ruled on by the judge, we would have had more details. But it was the prosecution that never offered it in the first place. And now I know why. If TC took the picture, her fingerprints would have been all over the phone. The one place detective Deal could have done some real detecting, and he failed yet again. I'm not surprised though. He knew fingerprints weren't on the phone and that would have been exculpatory evidence. Can't have that floating around now, can we.

Further, "memory source problems" and special needs go hand in hand. I represent a company with special needs individuals. It is impossible to conduct any investigation if an incident occurs between the special needs individuals. Its not their fault, but that group of individuals has a very difficult time conveying factual information. They simply cannot distinguish between an event they personally witnessed and an event they were told about.

Ahh yes that does make sense. Tonya sent a picture of herself to the mother maybe a bit risque but nothing terrible and as sort of a joke she showed the picture to her son. I assumed from this blog that the Carrolls had a falling out with Tonya but now it looks like they are friends.

During the trial it came out that the "sexy cowboy" picture to which the prosecution alluded was taken on Ms Craft's cell phone during a vacation, and that it was sent to Sandra Lamb's teenage son. It was further stated that the person who in fact sent the picture was Sandra Lamb herself, and that it was intended as a prank. It had nothing to do with the boy mentioned here.

Also, I must mention that the boy was taken to a CAC and interviewed by a cop. Read the literature on child sex victim interviews and time and again it stresses that the interviews be conducted by neutral third parties with no ties to the police. LMJC just can't play by the rules so they make up their own in order to ruin peoples lives. I don't care if you think yourself a good person, if you work for LMJD and you are not personally standing up and opposing this kind of crap then you are just as guilty as Deal and the rest of them. It's called "collevtive guilt." It's what we used to convict members of the SS and Gestaop, and sorry to say, if you work for LMJC, you're just as guilty as they are for the crimes committed by Deal, Arnt and the rest. Quit your job, join a monestary, flog yourself daily, and atone for your sins. There's no hope for your salvation if you continue on in your current state of affairs.

I agree with lame. The people who work in the LMJC, either in the courts, Sheriff's Department, etc. who say they are fed up with this but keeping their mouths shut are cowards.

If everyone is in such agreement that these scumbags are getting voted out of office, what do you have to be frightened of? Do you not think that Callie Starnes, Melydia Clewell, etc. will not be lining up to interview you and publicize your stories about what surely are thousands more unreported horrors in your area.

This sickens me as much as anything. It's the people who see this sort of thing happening who choose to do nothing who are essentially contributing to the waste of space and taxpayer money that is your local court system.

The DA and LMJC crowd are claiming that there were "other victims," but somehow they could not enter that material in the trial. On its face, that is ludicrous.

Keep in mind that "judge" Outhouse time and again let in prosecution claims that were NOT included in the discovery material, including all of the "hand rape" stuff and Joal Henke's "I just remembered" testimony about Tonya's alleged lesbianism.

On the other hand, "judge" Outhouse consistently kept the defense from entering material that either was exculpatory or would demonstrate that the witnesses were committing perjury. For example, he would not permit the defense to enter material regarding RL's acting lessons, and the fact that she had recited lines from her movies in interviews with the CAC "investigators." (I'm not sure if she gave the "she did not give me food" or "she hid candy around the house" lines during her actual trial testimony. I need to find out on that one. I do know she had said those things in her interviews.)

Also, "judge" Outhouse refused to let the defense enter the signed documents regarding the "power bill" incident, which Sherri Wilson denied on the stand. Outhouse's reason was that Wilson said that all of it was "clerical error" and that was good enough for him. Now, we KNOW that he would not have done the same for Tonya.

As I have said before, this was a crooked trial. Why should we be surprised that the crooks are still lying?

I think the investigation ended when Angela Carroll realized that she would have to be investigated because it was HER cell phone and therefore the pictures could not have been taken place during school. As we've discussed many times, you don't want CPS investigating you and that is what would have happened.

Does anyone know if the Carroll child is still at Chickamauga Elem. sounds like she is just as crazy as Sandra,but did not have the power.What is wrong with these parents?How could any parent harm their child the way they did,or tried to do?These parents should no longer have the children in their care.

I agree that it would take a lot of courage to become a whistleblower and to publicly disagree with your boss and I would think that is especially true within a good old boy network.

I do remain optimistic that Summers will get voted out of office this time around, but only if Catoosa Cty citizens don't succumb to short memories. A caller on UCTV asked him about whether he was running again next election, and he stated that he was going to have to wait and see. Betcha he's gonna wait to gauge and reassess the situation closer to the election. I hope we get other candidates to oppose him... candidates with integrity would be a nice change of pace.

When I mentioned the other employees feared retribution, I specifically meant job loss. These folks have families they are trying to raise, and Summers has a couple of years left of his term before he's going anywhere. And unless Melydia and Callie are paying big $$$ for interviews, publicity for one's self is not going to put food on the table.

Given the right circumstances, though, I'd be willing to bet that one could find a little more courage when/if the interviewer was somebody from the GBI or DOJ. I wouldn't think anybody would want to go down with a sinking ship at that point.

The news reported that a father in GA killed his son and tried to kill his other son. He was engaged in a bitter custody dispute with his ex wife. Parents do the strangest things to their children when custody is on the line.

In a court filing I opened today an attorney gave "NOTICE OF APPEARANCE" for the CAC and Evans which included Stacy Long. I went back through all the filings for the CAC and those for Evans to check if I had simply missed Long's name on them, but it is no place to be found.

Since Long is named as a defendant in both an individual and professional capacity, I assume she must also have been named in previous filings as being represented. I'm not sure what brought the change about.

Anyway, Long is represented now according to this latest filing. McDonalds have yet to file anything, so they may just lose by default or just show up to represent themselves anticipating they have little or nothing to lose.

kbp, I'm afraid you're right about the McDonald's and that's the worst thing they can do. Neither is ready for the kind of action they'll see in this type of case. Not understanding the proceedings and what they have to file will definitely work against them. Thanks for the heads up that the AG isn't representing Stacie Long. That would have been a waste of taxpayer money

This was never ever mentioned in court. In fact, this child was interviewed a second time after momma .. yes yes you guessed.. called them back and said *wait for it* her son "suddenly" remember MORE THINGS to tell and in that second interview told them that it was him, Craft's daughter and TWO OTHER male children that she was taking pictures of AT SCHOOL.

As far as I can tell the detectives NEVER BOTHERED to contact the other two named male children to verify anything.

Funny... they never took her electronics, not even her cell phone.

This young man has severe and documented behavioral issues that pre exist any contact with Ms. Craft.

Kerwyn, if I recall correctly, the number of victims Summer mentioned in his UCTV appearance was also 6, so I guess that is how he came up with this particular number. Unbelievable that nobody ever bothered to interview these other 2 boys. This whole scenario would be laughable if Tonya Craft's freedom hadn't been on the line here... and I hate to imagine all the damage done to these kids!

I'm fairly certain the point about law enforcement not taking her computer is going to come up somewhere during the civil trial. I've never heard when this type of stuff wasn't confiscated with suspected child molesters before--well, outside of the LMJC at least.

The R.N's I know make $45,000-$65,000 a year.They live in N.W. GA. & Chatt.I know about 10 in the R.N. field.To work on life force you have to have at least a R.N. & most have a higher degree.In my book that is good money.

According to the transcript of Mr. Echols' interview with JM, Mr. Echols advised JM that there are organizations that offer free legal services for people who can't pay, and that JM should check them out. Throughout the interview, however, JM constantly complained about how he is busy and doesn't have time or money! If he can't find a representation for his beloved wife, KM's "friends" such SL, the Wilsons and MB would certainly help her, I hope.

Mary Jane I am not 100% positive but I thought the whole deal with the Mcdonald's getting roped in was because Sandra Lamb was going to tell on Kellie for taking drugs,& that she was a nurse to feel scared.

Sorry Kaye, but as to your comment, "When I mentioned the other employees feared retribution, I specifically meant job loss. These folks have families they are trying to raise," I need to remind you that folks who worked within the German government, in the Wehrmacht, collaborating occupied government employees, and German and occupied countries' police all had families to raise too. Unlike in Europe, 1942, the people who work for LMJC have not the extreme liklihood that they would be placed lined up against a wall and shot for speaking out. I still say they are cowards, greater cowards than those who said or did nothing in nazi-occupied Europe. Many of them DID in fact do things, if not openly, to help the resistance. How much more cowardly are people in a country with a free press and whistle blower laws and no imminent threat of execution who do or say nothing to stop the crimes of a corrupt regime when people in fact DID give their lives trying to speak out, trying to do something to stop the horror of the third reich? Cowards them all, and they should to a one be stripped of their American citizenship for allowing these most un-American of things to occur. We talk about how bin laden's chauffer deserves to be in Gitmo for his association with terrorists. These people who work for LMJC by their association with the thugs in power are on the same exact level as men such as him. They are no better than terrorists and deserve to be treated as such. Sorry if that offends anyone, but if bin laden's driver is guilty, if the clerk in the office at Auschwitz is guilty, then all of the employees at LMJC who do or say nothing are just as guilty.

I agree Lame. Everyone who has allowed this LMJC culture to fester and continue is to blame to some degree, and I don't exclude myself from that either. As citizens and decent human beings, we all have responsibilities and sometimes don't do all we should to meet them.

Kaye, I do understand your point. Right now, it is nearly impossible to get a job & these people would lose them for sure. The ones I know who are against what is happening, need to stay in there. They are the few that are doing honest things there. If we lose them, we have lost everything. Trust me, I'm a firm believer in whistleblowing, but their time will come when they are able to step up and do something. My husband & I are both out of work right now & it isn't much fun. People, let them have their peace & make their peace with God. They will have their time & we should pray for them. If they leave, they will be replaced with more of "the machine" & WE citizens of CC will not have a chance. The ones I have a problem with are the ones who know they (personally) are doing wrong & continue it.

I lost my position as a UCF student senator and president of the College of Arts & Sciences student council because I was a whistle blower. I stood up for what was right, had the truck of injustice drive straight over me. And, I'm 100% glad I did it. Jesus said that those who lose their lives for his sake are to be called blessed. It is better to go down fighting for what is right than to go on offering no resistance to evil. There's an old Italian saying, "Better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a lamb." If you work for LMJC, blow the whistle! Blow it till you have no air left in your lungs!

Lame, I'm sorry, but you do not have children & when you did that, did you have the chance at losing your family, your life, your food???? I don't think so. You have said several things on here that you can not relate with. I'm not trying to be ugly, but my goodness, until you can walk in their shoes, don't say those things. Right is right & wrong is wrong, but like I said before, these few are still trying to good for MY community & I want them to stay. They are the last chance of a lifeline. I have a good friend who quit because of the b.s. She lost her house, her car & almost lost her children. She is a great Christian, I stand behind her, but I do believe she should have stayed to help the people who she could help. Sometimes, what seems so easy for people on the outside, is not so easy for the people on the inside. I do not want this to happen again. These are LEO's & trying to do good. They will get their chance. If every good person quit every job they had because of corruption, no one would work, EVER. Do you not think they feel the burden? They do & it sucks for them. We as Christians need to pray for their strength to stay true to their beliefs & to continue to stay & help people. The alternative, for those of us living in this district, is not pretty. Even if I didn't know a few of these people, I would still stand behind them. As I said in my previous post, the people I have the biggest problem with are the people who knowingly are doing wrong. I don't believe for one second they are offering no resistance to evil, they are actually trying to fight it from the inside.

I have a long history with the Carroll's. Her name is actually Angela Carroll Durden now. My sister and her daughter Shicole were best friends. I think I have the message that was sent to me that originally got me involved in the case. My ex sister in law actually cheated on my brother with Shicole's ex Shane but that is neither here nor there. Angela runs a booth at the East ridge flea market. I'm actually going there this weekend. I actually met the son once I mistook him for Shicole's son because there is a 20 year age difference or more. I successfully burned that bridge. Thank God with friends like that who needs enemies.

About Me

I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland. We are located on the Allegheny Plateau, and we have cool summers and tough winters.
I am the single father of five children, four of them adopted from overseas and I have two grandchildren. My family and I are members of Faith Presbyterian Church (PCA).